Automatic and manual methodology for three-dimensional measurements of distal femoral gender differences and femoral component placement.

Our study aimed to introduce an automatic three-dimensional method for measuring the distal femur and identifying potential gender differences and the effects on femoral component placement in total knee arthroplasty. Three hundred forty-two femora were scanned with computed tomography. Automatic and manual bone resection and component placement were compared using a virtual resection tool. For standard component use, 77.3% of the femora were male and 23.1% were female. For gender-specific component use, 91% were female and 7.3% were male. Surgeon errors in both component translation and rotation existed but were minimal. From these results, gender alone did not dictate component use in primary total knee arthroplasty. The restoration of femoral condylar profile in 3 dimensions can be obtained by accurately measuring patient distal femoral anatomy and the appropriate femoral component design selection. Additional bone cuts, soft-tissue maneuvers, and adverse outcomes in fitting the patient to the femoral component may be avoided.

Assessing A.L. 288-1 femur length using computer-aided three-dimensional reconstruction.

Fossil reconstruction remains a requisite task for many types of paleoanthropological research. While reconstructions are traditionally accomplished by hand, computer modeling offers a novel and mathematically rigorous approach while providing advantages over the manual process. Computer models of fossil specimens can be reflected, scaled, and aligned in virtual space with relative ease; therefore, it is simple to generate multiple reconstructions to find the "best" one. Here we report on the reconstruction of A.L. 288-1ap (left femur) using three-dimensional computer models. Our "best" reconstruction has a maximum length of 277mm, which is very near both the 280mm originally estimated and the frequently cited 281mm.